Kho Liang Ie
Industrial designer Kho Liang Ie made an important contribution to the rapid development of Dutch design after 1955. He began his career at Stichting Goed Wonen (Good Living Foundation), an organisation that aimed to improve public taste in the field of interior design. Dissatisfied with the rather dogmatic modernism espoused by Goed Wonen, in 1957 he moved to the furniture manufacturer Artifort.
Kho was one of the first designers not to restrict himself to designing individual items of furniture but instead to view design as an all-embracing concept and was one of the pioneers of corporate identity in the Netherlands. With his clear functional designs, Kho had established such a reputation by 1962 that he was commissioned to design the interior of the new Schiphol airport, from the seating, counters and wall tiling to the ashtrays, ceiling systems and – together with Benno Wissing from Total Design – the signage: all in a characteristically sober style that exuded calm and harmony.
Kho Liang Ie quoted in De Telegraaf, 1967: ‘Air travellers are nervous and tense. For that reason, I have attempted to invest the space with clarity. I have studied how people behave in airports and that was decisive for my design.’
The exhibition features two design drawings and the wood-bound Schiphol Book with interior photographs, design studies and hand-written commentary. After Schiphol, Kho was commissioned to design the interior of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, for which he designed a series of pictograms, several of which are also included in the exhibition.
View the archive of Nel Verschuuren – Kho Liang Ie Associates in the Search Portal